491102673_f395dc3a9dMatthew 27:57-61
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.  Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.  And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock.  And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
The Sabbath day, after the burial had to be the darkest day in earth’s history.  The candle of God had been extinguished by the ugliness we call death.  A light had gone out for the disciples and for the world.  Any sense of hope was gone.
The question for me to consider is, what would it have been like for that dark day and night to continue?  What would have happened to this world if Jesus hadn’t been raised, or if Satan had gotten the victory over God’s Son?  Or what would it have meant if Jesus was just a defeated prophet, true or not?  What would I be missing?  I would certainly be missing the New Testament record.  I would be living a life without these words:
1. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28).”
2. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name (Matt. 6:9).”
3. “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish (Matt. 18:14).”
4. “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant (Matt. 20:26).”
5. “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28).”
6. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).”
7. “I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and they know me… (John 10:14).”
8. “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live… (John 11:25).”
9. “Let not your heart be troubled, Believe in God; believe also in me (John 14:1).”
10. “…I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:3).”
I can’t imagine a life without the promises Jesus gave.  I am grateful that I don’t have to.  And I pray with a heavy heart for those who don’t know this Jesus who made the world one dark day, but offers to give light today.